Welcome to our blog!

It seems crazy. Ten years ago Clint and I had just gotten married, and we were so young and carefree. It was just the two of us and life was pretty easy. The house stayed (reasonably) clean, we went out when we wanted, and traveled to some pretty incredible places. We didn't have a whole lot of responsibility, pretty much just to ourselves.

Fast forward to 2014 and we now have three miniature versions of ourselves, two girls and a boy in the middle. Hayley is six and is as spunky and prissy as can be. Colin is almost five and is the nuttiest little thing imaginable, but oh so sweet. And Sydney, our littlest, thinks she's six and is already the comedian in the family. Despite our kiddos being so little, they not only now outnumber us, but they have managed to turn our world upside down. But we wouldn't have it any other way. We love 'em to pieces!

The blog is filled with the weekly happenings within the Stuckey family, some funny, some touching, and some a little zany and crazy. Life is definitely better with kids in it! We love ours to pieces. Images + Words = Memories.

Happy Valentine’s Day!! I love these little things with all my heart! I still can’t believe there are four of them! Two boys and two girls, how perfect! I do SO much for them and often wonder if most of the time it goes unnoticed. Like our annual Valentine’s breakfast. Maybe I won’t do one this year, I thought. Would they even care? Well, apparently they do. As I was tucking Sydney in for bed, she reminded me, “Mom, are you going to do the Valentine’s breakfast for us in the morning?” “Sydney, you remember that?” I asked. “Of course Mom!” Sydney exclaimed. “You do one every year!” That I do!

Sydney’s Valentine’s party at her school was way too cute! She’s way too cute!!

iPhone Pics:

So yeah, life sometimes gets busy and you end up going out for Valentine’s dinner in April! Whoops!! But, even still, I can’t imagine another person I would rather spend my life with than Clint. Love you Babe!!

Sydney has been waiting MONTHS for Willie the Whale to come visit her home for the weekend! Finally, it was her turn (or rather’s Willie’s turn) for a visit. Sydney played with Willie all day on Friday and took Willie to gymnastics with her Friday night! Willie LOVED the blue foam pit! I think it reminded him of home.

On Saturday Willie cruised around the neighborhood with Sydney and big sister Hayley. Willie hung on tight to the scooter so he didn’t fall off. Just when Willie’s fears had abated, Sydney threw Willie on the trampoline. Willie is used to the gentle motion of the ocean, not the high bounce of the trampoline. Willie had fun bouncing, but was sure glad when it was over. Then Sydney took Willie high in the treetops so Willie could see all around. Luckily, Willie isn’t too afraid of heights and quite enjoyed the view. On Sunday we took Willie to church with us. Willie kept getting lots of funny looks and stares. What?! Hasn’t anyone seen a whale in church before??

I’m so lucky that my mom was able to come visit us for Colin’s baptism! Some visits are fun, yet others are filled with a lot of work. This visit, unfortunately, was filled with A LOT of work, cleaning, and organizing! We basically spent each day cleaning out the kids’ bedrooms and the playroom. But did have fun playing with the kids, grabbing lunch, watching movies at night, having frozen yogurt Menchies, eating at IHOP, and celebrating Colin’s baptism!

It’s hard to believe that Colin is eight already and old enough to be baptized! We call him our little Nephi because he loves following the rules, honors his parents, and is constantly striving to do what is right. I didn’t give him the you-better-be-good talk, but rather naturally expected this huge spiritual moment at his baptism. But, Colin was a total and complete goofball. I think he was just nervous, but seriously, Colin was not himself that day. I wanted to just started the whole baptism all over again. Thank goodness Colin got dunked in the water and forgiven of being so goofy irreverent. Lol.

The usual suspects were there with my mom flying in from Arizona and Colin’s primary teacher, who has an AMAZING voice, singing the song Baptism. Jeff Griffith, our good friend, conducted the baptism. Carla gave the opening prayer. I gave a talk on baptism. My mom gave a talk on the Holy Ghost. Clint baptized Colin and give him the gift of the Holy Ghost. Don gave the closing prayer. The baptism was sweet. I’m proud of Colin. Boys will be boys.

Here’s my baptism talk:

Colin I am SO crazy proud of you!! I’m so proud of the little man you’ve become. I remember standing up here almost two years ago, in this very room among many of these same people at Hayley’s baptism. You were just in kindergarten (or “kinder” as you called it). You were SO silly and goofy.

You are still silly and goofy, but the difference now is that you are mature enough to understand the concept of baptism and have developed a desire to be baptized and to be confirmed a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints.

Clint and I have a nickname for Colin. We call him our “Little Nephi”. Yes, he makes mistakes, we all do, but he is genuinely always trying to do the right thing. He has a strong internal compass, loves rules, and is a good example to others.

I want to tell you a quick story about Colin. It was a particularly difficult night trying to get the kids to bed. Each one of our kids has their moments, but on this occasion Keaton was crying and the girls were playing hair salon and had absolutely no interest in stopping and going to bed.

I remember tucking Colin into bed and him looking up at me and saying with the utmost sincerity, “I’m practically perfect, aren’t I?” Okay Colin, yes in this little moment, you are practically perfect.

But you know what Colin? You about to be baptized, which means that when you come up from the water, you WILL be perfect! You will be the most perfect of all God’s children. And Mommy and Daddy will expect you to remain perfect.

One of the things we teach the youth in our church are the Articles of Faith, which are our thirteen most fundamental beliefs. Can anyone tell me what the Fourth Article of Faith is: “We believe that the first principles and ordinances to the Gospel are: first, Faith in the Lord Jesus Christ; second, Repentance; third, Baptism by immersion for the remission of sins; fourth, Laying on of hands for the gift of the Holy Ghost.”

Now I’m going to place a blue square on the floor at one side of the room and a white square at the other side. Colin come stand on this blue square. Can you get from the blue square to the white square without stepping on the carpet?

[No, it’s too far]

You’re right, it’s too far for you to get their by yourself. And do you think you can return to Heavenly Father without help?

I’m going to place six more squares on the floor. Heavenly Father has given us steps to bring us back to Him. Do you know what they are? Think of the Article of Faith we just read.

The first one is Faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. We must understand that it is only through Him that we can make it back to our Heavenly Father.

The second one is Repentance. We are not perfect, but we must put our trust in Jesus Christ to wash away our sins through repentance.

Point to the next square. This one represents one of the steps you are taking today. Yep, Baptism. Why is baptism important? Baptism is a physical symbol of our faith in Jesus Christ. Baptism is a Covenant, which is a two way promise with our Heavenly Father. When we get baptized, we promise Heavenly Father that we 1) Take upon the name Christ, 2) Help one another, 3) Testify of Jesus Christ, and 4) Serve God and keep his commandments. In return, the Lord promises to 1) forgive our sins, 2) Pour His Sprit upon us, and 3) Allow us to return to him and have eternal life.

Point to the next square. This one also represents another step you’ll take today. Yep, Receiving the Gift of the Holy Ghost.

You’re almost there. What do you think this next one represents? Mommy and Daddy were married here. Yep, the temple. This square represents your priesthood and temple ordinances.

What do you think this last square represents? Staying righteous. After making all these covenants, we must stay faithful to Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ.

[Closing with ad lib thoughts and testimony]

After Colin’s baptism, we had a light dinner at our house. The best part were the personalized cookies that Carla ordered specifically for Colin. They turned out SO cute!! Colin, Mommy loves you!!